VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2010: Aronofsky's BLACK SWAN to Open Venice 2010

Darren Aronofsky does a 180 degree switch in the world of physical competition. Going from Pro Wrestling to Ballet. And it looks like the plot of the film is going to feature intrigue over intimacy. That photo is an unrecognizable Natalie Portman in make-up, trumping those pesky Star Wars Prequels for hiding the actress. I'm hoping that the film is not trying to one-up Matthew Barney. The stills are a lot less hair and sweat than The Wrestler, but will Black Swan be more compelling than Robert Altman's The Company? The fact that Vincent Cassel is in there is a mighty fine clue.

Fox Searchlight Press Release is below:

"Black Swan, the highly anticipated new feature film by American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Golden Lion recipient in 2008 at the 65th Venice Film Festival for The Wrestler),
will be the opening film - in competition - of the 67th Venice
International Film Festival. A psychological thriller set in the world
of New York City ballet, Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company (Mila Kunis). Black Swan
takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of
a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen
turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect. Black Swan also stars Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder.

The 67th Venice Film Festival will take
place on the Lido from September 1 through 11 2010, directed by Marco
Mueller and organized by the Biennale di Venezia under the chairmanship
of Paolo Baratta.

Black Swan will have its world
premiere screening on the evening of September 1 in the Sala Grande
(Palazzo del Cinema), following the opening ceremony. The film is
written by Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin, produced by
Protozoa Pictures and Phoenix Pictures and presented by Fox Searchlight
Pictures in association with Cross Creek Pictures.

'The cast and crew of Black Swan
are both excited and humbled by the selection committee's invitation.
It is an honor to walk the great red carpet on the Lido and we are
excited to premier our film to the wonderful audiences in Venice,' said
Aronofsky...

Netflix is constantly growing in Latin America, and while in Mexico the catalog is still nowhere as big as the North American one, several hotly anticipated TV series, such as Better Call Saul and House of Cards, are greatly helping in order to have more Mexican users. Now Netflix has...
More »

Socrates said, "Know thyself." A more contemporary philosopher from Oklahoma offered, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." Reading many business stories about Hollywood lately, it quickly becomes apparent that few have embraced either the Athenian master or the fine, folksy wisdom of Will Rogers. How else to...
More »

Hollywood's annual pageant of nice dresses and the complex madness of John Travolta went off pretty much as expected - a few less for American Sniper than perhaps I cynically expected, and a few more for Birdman, which ain't Boyhood, but is an off-model enough Best Picture that I can't...
More »

Film Comment Selects, Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual film series that showcases the best films from all corners of the world selected by folks at Film Comment magazine, marks the arrival of spring for New York cinephiles in an otherwise dreadful February/March movie season. This year's selections are as...
More »

"Documentary Fortnight: MoMA's International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media," which screens at the Museum of Modern Art through February 27, once again brings an impressive array of new films, retrospectives, and installations to New York audiences. Two masters of documentary, Stanley Nelson and Barbara Kopple, open and close the...
More »